Track Gauge
TrackGage, AlsoKnownAs TrackGauge, is defined as the measured width between the 2 RailHeads; walking between rails is known as "Stepping In The Gage". For rollingstock to be compatible with any given railway, Wheelset & BogieTrucks must match TrackGage, amongst many other technical parameters. The TrackGage = 4f708\1m435 is commonly known as "StandardGage". Any TrackGage < 4f708\1m435 is commonly known as "NarrowGage". Any TrackGage > 4f708\1m435 is commonly known as "BroadGage". Generally as gage gets larger, the more capacity & more stability rollingstock may have; though initial construction costs also generally increase with gage. The history of railways includes a lesson on shortterm savings in building NarrowGage\BroadGage & the resulting longterm penalties due to incompatible gages at interchange points. Track construction costs, rollingstock availability\cost, maintenance\operating costs, connecting interchange requirements, & potential customers\revenue, are primary considerations. TrackGage History In the early 1800s, as engineers were developing the steam locomotive, they built their designs with WheelsetGage\TrackGage as they pleased. In Britian, the rail network grew quickly thru the early 1800s, & interchanging goods\passengers between the various independent railways soon became problematic: GreatWesternRailway used 7f000\2m134\BrunelGage, most others used 4f708\1m435\StephensonGage, LaterKnownAs StandardGage. Goods\Passengers had to stop, be Manhandled\Transferred across platforms into different wagons to travel between various gaged railways, slowing service & increasing costs to both customers & railway owners. Parliament finally acted in 1846, forcing GWR to convert its track to 4f708\1m435\StandardGage; by 1892, all British MainLines were StandardGage. In the UnitedStates, from the beginning of modern railways in the 1830s until the CivilWar, lines were typically isolated from each other, & "technical standards" were a whim of the local railway builder\owner; thus a chaotic variety of incompatible TrackGages were used: 2f000\0m610, 2f500\0m762, 3f000\0m914, 3f500\1m067, 4f688\1m429, 4f708\1m435, 4f833\1m473, 5f000\1m524, 5f208\1m588, 5f500\1m676, 6f000\1m829,... After the CivilWar, railways in the southern states were rebuilt, railways in the northern states expanded, & the TransContinental railway extended the national network to the west coast of NorthAmerica, the US government gradually established basic interchange regulations, including 4f708\1m435\StandardGage; rollingstock that interchanged on the national network was required to use StandardGage. Though other NonStandardGages continue to be used (2f000\0m610 in NewEngland, 3f000\0m914 in Colorado, 5f500\1m676 in USCa.BayArea, etc) on isolated transit systems & now preserved historic lines. In Canada, 5f500\1m676\IberianGage was first adopted for their national network, however it later changed to 4f708\1m435\StandardGage in the 1880s to ease interchange with the US. In India, 5f500\1m676\BroadGage\BG was used for MainLines, though to lower construction costs, the colonial government also built many 3f281\1m000\MeterGage\MG SecondaryLines. To remedy the resulting interchange problems, the modern IndianRailways has over time converted most MG lines to BG, known as "Project UniGauge". India also still has a few 2f500\0m762 & 2f000\0m610 NarrowGage heritage lines. Australia is a notorious example of "Gage Chaos" with a history of political infighting, resulting in a variety of TrackGages. NewSouthWales & TransAustralia railways (PortAugusta & PortPirie, SouthAustralia ~ Kalgoorlie, WesternAustralia) were built 4f708\1m435\StandardGage; Victoria & SouthAustralia used 5f250\1m600\BroadGage; Queensland, WesternAustralia & Tasmania used 3f500\1m067\NarrowGage. Fortunately conversion to StandardGage has gradually occurred & now interconnects most areas. TrackGage Standardization This is when a regulation\rule is established for a "standard" gage; not to be confused with 4f708\1m435\StandardGage, since a region\country\network can declare "standard" to be any measured width. TrackGage Conversion This is a process where a railway\network\region\country is converted from one gage to another by moving one rail, to ideally have a single compatible\interchangable TrackGage. See also: TrackGage Conversions DualGage This is where tracks have a 3rdRail to accommodate rollingstock of 2 differing TrackGages. This is viable if the 2 gages have a significant disparity, impractical if the measures are too close: StandardGage~IrishGage, MetreGage~CapeGage, etc. DualGage interchange yards are usually at border crossings: France~Spain, EastEurope~Russia, Russia~Mongolia~China, etc. TrackGage WorldWide 1f250\0m381\MinimumGage : NorthAmerica, Europe... 2f000\0m610\TwoFootGage\MaineGage : NorthAmerica... 2f500\0m762\IndiaGage : India, SriLanka... 3f000\0m914\ThreeFootGage\ColoradoGage : Britain, USCo:D&RG, USAk:WP&Y... 3f281\1m000\MetreGage\MG : EastAfrica, SouthEastAsia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Iraq, Portugal, Greece, Switzer, Argentina... 3f500\1m067\CapeGage : SouthAfrica, Australia, NewZea, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Indonesia, Japan, NewFound, Ecuador, USCa:SanFrancisco... 4f708\1m435\StephensonGage\StandardGage : Europe, Australia, NorthAfrica, Israel, Iraq, Iran, China, Korea, JapanHiSpeed, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, Mexico, NorthAmerica:Canada+US+Mexico+Panama... 5f000\1m524\RussiaGage : Russia, FinLand, Mongolia, Belarus, Kazahkstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkmenistan... 5f250\1m600\IrishGage : Ireland, Australia, Brazil... 5f500\1m676\IberiaGage : Spain, Portugal, India, Pakistan, SriLanka, Bangladesh, Argentina, Chile, USCa:BayArea... 7f000\2m134\BrunelGage : Britain:GreatWestern Refs * InfoLink * InfoLink * InfoLink * InfoLink * InfoLink * The Railway Data File, Published By Silverdale Books, Category:Encyclopedic articles